The 2nd Khartiia Corps of the Ukrainian National Guard released the first images of Operation VELES, a joint underground operation carried out with other units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, the corps reported on October 21.
The newly released video shows Ukrainian troops operating below the surface, but Khartiia has so far hidden virtually all other details.
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The unit did not disclose the mission location, objectives, duration or course of the operation, leaving only a first glimpse of what appears to be a new response to a battlefield increasingly dominated by drones.
Khartiia said constant aerial surveillance has made open movement across the surface increasingly dangerous, forcing troops to adapt how they maneuver, hide and conduct operations.
“When the battlefield became transparent, the war became clandestine,” the corps said.
When the battlefield became transparent, the war became clandestine.
The Khartiia Corps, along with other units of the Defense Forces, is carrying out the clandestine operation VELES and, for the first time, we can show the work of our brothers in arms in this new dimension of warfare.
“We… pic.twitter.com/Af3RqgSIr8
– Khartiia Corps in English (@khartiia_eng) October 21, 2026
Operation VELES is carried out jointly by Khartiia and other units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces. The corps did not identify the other formations involved.
Brig. General Ihor Obolenskyi, commander of the 2nd Khartiia Corps, congratulated the personnel participating in the operation.
“We have a unique people; we are an unbeatable nation,” Obolenskyi said.
The corps promised to disclose more about Operation VELES in the near future.
Earlier, Operation Vivaldi in Ukraine ended with the recapture of 277 square kilometers and at least 8,000 Russian troops killed or wounded.
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